Shipping container



March 9, 1954 J. P. H. LEAVITT SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1949 Patented Mar. 9, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT ore! CE- 2,671,601 sniPPING CONTAINER James P. H. Leavititjwayne Pa.,assignor to Container Corporation of America; Chicago;-lll., a corporation of Delaware Application oetober 25, 1949, Serial No. 123,436

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to shipping containers and more particularly to a type of paperboard shipping container of multi-wall construction in which outer container parts are telescopicallyrelated to inner liner parts.

One object of theinvention is to provide a paperboard container which is particularly effective for manufacture in large sizes and at the same time can be relatively easily loaded with articles, such as textiles and similar goods, or emptied without requiring diflicult reaching on the part of persons using the container.

Another object is to provide a multi-wall paperboard container construction which may be partially assembled and prepared to receive its contentsby relatively few and simple manipulations, whereby an inner liner element is brought into snug fitting relationship with an outer container, the complete contents being loaded into the liner portion of the container while held in loadreceiving position by a section of the outer container, after which the assembly of the complete container is easily effected by telescoping an additional outer container section over the upper portion of the filled liner.

A further object of the invention is to provide outer container sections adapted to fit telescopically'over inner liner parts, the liner parts being brought into end'to end seating arrangement along a plurality of separate lines which are out of alignment with each other so as to avoid having a line of juncture which extends in a straight line around the container, thereby providing cover sections that will telescope readily over a liner portion and providing for increased strength of container for a given strength of container board.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multi-wall container comprising a liner with telescoping outer parts that can be made up'in a large size and at the same'time provide for easy access to the interior by having at leastone wall of the liner partly displaceable outwardly over the upper edge of a relatively low outer container wall.

Other objects are generally to improve and simplify paperboard containers of the type above described, making them easier as well as) more economical to manufacture, assemble and load for a given area and strength of paperboard utilized. 7

Additional and more specific oliaject's endeava'ntages' will be apparent in the fo'llowing'specification and in the 01am appended thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is aperspectiveview' of a container constructed in accordance with a preferred form of the invention,- illustrating it as closed and handed and ready for delivery to a transporting vehicle;

Fig. 2' is a perspective view of the container substantially as it appears preparatory to being loaded;

Fig. 3is an exploded view showing all of the parts of the container in disassembled relation;

Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views, respectively, of the blanks for the body part of the upper and lower cover sections;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank for an end closure cap; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line l''l of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the manner of assembling the liner parts with respect to the lower cover section.

In general the preferred form of the invention comprises a liner portion open at its ends which are receivable into outer telescoping cover sections, the cover sections each having two longer walls and two shorter walls, such pairs of walls being reversely dimensioned to provide composite outer walls of uniform length in the completed container.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the outer container parts or cover sections are indicated generally at H] and II, and the principal elements of the liner portion are indicated generallyat I2 and 13.

The outer cover sections are preferably made from paperboard blanks of similar form, in that each cover section has a short wall or walls where the companion section has a long wall or walls so that the end edges of the two cover sections will seat one upon the other to provide a uniform rectangular container in completed form. The container, in the present instance, is illustrated as being other than square in cross section; that is, two opposite vertical walls are wider than the others. In this form the finished blank of one'cbver'secuon differs from the blankfiof the other cove-"semen but'the two blankscan be out without waste from sheets of proper size, as is apparent by'r'eference to Figs. 4 and 5.

'In Fig. 4, illustrating the blank for the upper cover section ID, the main body portion of the cover section preferably comprises a front wall I l andside wall I5 of equal length, rear wall it and side wall If equal in length to each other but shorter thanwalls' and i5. The free edges of the walls l l and'l'l at the ends of the blank are mng'eaiysecureatogether as by means of a strip'of'tape I8.

The blank for the lower-cover section H, as

illustrated in Fig. 5, preferably comprises a front wall 20 and a side wall 2| of equal length, rear wall 22 and side wall 23 equal in length to each other but longer than walls 20 and 2|. The free edges of the walls 20 and 23 at the ends of the blank are hingedly secured together by a strip of tape 24.

By this construction of the two cover sections, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the two longer walls of the upper cover section will seat in edge to edge contact with the two shorter walls of the lower cover section, and the shorter walls of the upper cover section will seat against the longer walls of the lower cover section to provide composite side walls of uniform length in the completed container.

The end closure caps for the upper and lower cover sections are preferably identical and a description of one will suffice. The blank for the closure cap (see Fig. 6) provides a main panel 25 and marginal flaps or flanges 26, 27, 28 and 29. at their corners by means of short corner flaps 3D, 30 and 3|, 3: carried on the ends of the respective marginal flaps 26 and 28. The closure caps are suitably secured across the ends of the cover sections as by means of staples as indicated in Fig. l.

The complete liner comprising the separate parts [2 and I3 is adapted to be firmly inserted in one of the cover sections, preferably section H, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so that the contents of the container may be loaded into the liner while held in place by the lower cover section. For this purpose the part I 2 is constructed of U-shape in horizontal cross section and comprises interconnected panels 33, 34 and 35 hinged together along crease lines 36 and 37.

The liner part l3 preferably comprises a panel 38 adapted to fit snugly against the interior of a composite wall of the completed container, this being preferably the aligned wall panels l4 and 23see Fig. 1. An upper portion 38a of the panel 38 is defined from the lower portion 3822 by a transverse crease line 39 for a purpose presently to be explained. The vertical side edges of the panel 38, when in place within the assembled cover sections preferably bear snugly against the inner faces of the cover section walls which adjoin walls [4 and 20that is, walls 21 and 23 of the lower cover section and walls I and ll of the upper cover section.

The U-shaped liner part i2 is so dimensioned that, when folded as illustrated in Fig. 3, the corners of the folded liner part adjacent the hinge lines 36 and 3'! will engag firmly within the adjacent corners of the upper and lower cover sections. The panels 34 and 35 are dimensioned so that their free vertical edges will bear firmly against the inner face of the panel 38 of liner part l3 at the same time that the panels 34 and 35 are disposed flat against their corresponding composite container walls in the assembled container.

The liner part I3 preferably includes an additional panel portion 40 hingedly connected to the portion 38 along fold line 4|. The panel portion 40 is adapted to be folded at right angles to the portion 38 so that it will lie fiat against the closure cap of the lower cover section. This panel portion 40 also 'is'preferably so dimen sioned that, when .the outer face of panel .1501? tion 38 is resting fiat against the Wall 23', the three free edges of the panel 40. will firmly engage the lower inner surfaces of the walls 2|,

These flaps are preferably secured together 4 22 and 23. It is thus apparent that the U-shaped liner part I 2 will have its lower edges resting upon the upper surface of panel part 40 in the assembled container.

The length of each of the panel part l2 and I3 is such that when such parts are brought into the relationship just described and the two cover sections brought into position in which their edges seat one upon the other, the upper edges of the liner parts l2 and I3 will bear against the inner surface of panel 25 of the closure cap for the upper cover section l0.

As shown in Fig. 2, the crease line between panel portions 38a and 38b is preferably impressed so that when the liner parts are assembled within the lower cover section the line 39 will be below the plane defined by the upper edges of the lower cover section walls 22 and 23. If the invention is embodied in a relatively large size container, it is desirable to locate crease line 39 relatively closely above the upper edge of the wall 20. Thi arrangement facilitates loading the contents into the container or unloading contents therefrom by relatively small sized persons without undue strain being encountered in reaching into the container to place or remove articles.

The container parts are preferably designed for shipment flat to the user, the body portions of the cover sections being in the form of flat tubes with taped joints. The user in ordinary practice will staple the flanges of the outer end caps and also will staple the flanges of such caps to the ends of the cover sections.

When it is desired to load articles into the container the lower'cover section I I will be'placed on a fiat surface with its open end upward and the single panel liner part l3 will preferably be inserted with the panel 46 disposed fiat against the interior surface of the end cap and with the panel 38 fiat against wall 20. In this position the vertical edges of the panel 38 bear firmly against the interior surfaces of walls 2| and 23 adjacent the corners of the cover section. The liner part I2 is next inserted, preferably with panels 34 and 35 swung somewhat inward toward each other. When the lower edge portions of the liner part come to rest against the panel 40 the panels 34 and 35 ar swung outward until they come to rest flatwise against the interior surfaces of walls 21 and 23. As the edges of panels 34 and 35 move outward they bear with increasing firmness against the inner surface of the panel 38, and, in final position, the liner parts are caused to fit relatively snugly against the interior of the lower cover section walls, thus making a firm, sturdy, multi-wall construction.

In the process of loadin the partially assembled container the upper panel portion 38a may be conveniently swung outward and downward to enable the packer to reach within the bottom part of the container Without undue strain. Due to the wall 20 being one of the shorter walls of the cover section the upper edge portion of the liner part 38, formed by swinging the portion 38a downward, will be disposed along a conveniently low line thus enabling large size containers to be loaded and unloaded with relative ease.

When the liner portion has been completely filled with articles the upper cover section will be telescoped over the upper end of the liner portion and moved downward until the corresponding free edges of each of the cover section walls are seated one against theother, as illustrated in Fig. 1. When the cover sections are in 5 this position the upper ends of the liner portion will be in contact with the inner surface of the upper end cap of the cover section.

Due to the construction in which the front wall l4 and one side wall I5 01 the upper cover section In extend down below the edge of the walls [6 and I1, telescoping of the cover section over the top of the liner portion is facilitated. The cover section is first moved to a position in which the walls l4 and I5 bear closely against the liner panels 34 and 38. This causes the panel part 3811 of panel 38 to come to rest against the edges of the walls 34 and 35. Thereafter, further downward movement of the upper cover section will cause the edges of walls It and I! to slip easily past the edges of the liner portion panels 33 and 35.

The completed container is preferably secured by a binding element 44, such as a steel band or wire, which extends around the mid portion of the container parallel with the end edges of the cover sections. By securing the binding element in this manner it will engage the longer walls of each cover section, thereby with a single strand of binding element tending to hold both sections against relative displacement.

If desired, additional strips of gummed tape can be employed at corners where the longer walls of the separate cover sections are in partial edge to edge contact. Each pair of meeting edges may, if desired, also be secured with tape in a well known manner.

While the present description sets forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, certain changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claim rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a paperboard shipping container, a lower four-panel cover section rectangular in crosssection, an end closure for one end of the cover section, a first U-shaped liner part having three vertically extending hingedly interconnecting panels fitting snugly against the interior surfaces of three adjacent vertical walls of the cover section, and extending thereabove, a second liner part separate from said first liner part and comprising a first panel portion coextensive with the fourth wall of the cover section and extending thereabove, a second panel portion disposed at right angles to the first panel portion and coextensive with the end closure, and a third panel portion hingedly secured to the upper edge of the first panel portion and extending upwardly therefrom and serving to close the open upper regions of the U-shape liner part by bridging the distance between the parallel walls thereof, a second cover section telescopically received over the upper end of the structure formed by said liner parts and snugly fitting therearound and with its lower edges fitting upon the upper edges of the other cover section, two adjoining walls of one cover section being secured together and of greater length than the other two adjoining walls, the lengths of the corresponding walls of the other cover section being reversely dimensioned whereby walls of greater length will register with walls of lesser length to receive composite walls of equal length in the assembled cover sections.

JAMES P. H. LEAVITT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,940,190 Shofer Dec. 19, 1933 2,246,097 Illges June 17, 1941 2,453,614 Belsinger Nov. 9, 1948 2,564,948 Beck, et a1. Aug. 21, 1951 

